“Beyond Bars: Voices of Incarceration,” a reading from the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop (MPWW), took place in Hamline’s Kay Fredericks Room on Oct. 22. The reading was the tenth for MPWW, and highlighted over a dozen artists. Hamline hosts the MPWW reading every year.

According to their website, mnprisonwriting.org, the program seeks to “empower writers, challenge stereotypes about the incarcerated population, and promote a vision of rehabilitation and restorative justice through art.” MPWW creates classes in fiction writing, essay writing, oral storytelling, poetry and more for incarcerated people in Minnesota. Their teaching artists often also teach at higher learning institutions, including Hamline University.

Besides those who attended in person, there were at least 150 online viewers, including some workshop participants watching from the Minnesota Correctional Facility at Moose Lake. 

Attendees were welcomed by MPWW president Michael Kleber-Diggs, founder Jennifer Bowen and Fong Lee, a former workshop participant.

“I have no right to tell their stories… I only ask that you listen to their art,” Lee said, and emphasized that restoration begins with listening.

The program included four films from MPWW’s new public art collaboration, which connects student art with animation. Lee’s poem “Drop a Kite” was shown as a film, animated by Taylor Guntharp, a Minneapolis-based artist.

Creative energy filled the room, and the readings were brimming with insight and imagery. While many artists had their words read by family, MPWW alumni and teachers, a few read for themselves, a first for the MPWW readings.

Award winning writer and workshop participant Zeke Caligiuri read his own poem, adding, in his own words, “a bit of somberness” to the night, as he reflected on COVID-19’s impact on people experiencing incarceration. 

“COVID[-19] made prisons the worst they’ve ever been,” he said.

Caligiuri’s poem included the stark line, “Thank you for making artists into factory workers.”

MPWW has held classes in all of Minnesota’s adult correctional facilities, reaching over 1,000 students in over 100 creative writing classes. The program, founded in 2011, also supports writers collectives, facilitates mentorships and publishes an annual print anthology curated by students.

“I believe healing begins when a person can express their stories. Writing is like a laundromat for my soul,” a student’s testimony on MPWW’s website reads.

More testimonials, information about current programs, volunteer opportunities and some student work can be found on MPWW’s website (mnprisonwriting.org).